Automatic dispenser package



June 1966 R. J. HENNESSEY ETAL 3,254,761

AUTOMATIC DISPENSER PACKAGE I Filed 001;. 28, 1965 INVENTOR R0585 J Haw/V5855) fan/w Q. Pcuwso/v BY a ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,254,761 AUTOMATIC DISPENSER PACKAGE Russell J. Hennessey, St. Paul, Minn, and Edwin Q. Peterson, Kansas City, Mo., assignors to Waldorf Paper Products Company, St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Filed Oct. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 319,290 4 Claims. (Cl. 206-78) This invention relates to an improvement in automatic dispenser packages and deals particularly with a package designed for containing products dispensed from automatic dispensing machines.

During recent years the popularity of automatic dispensing machines for dispensing products of one type or another has materially increased. Certain such dispensers include rod like supports for the packages, and means for slidably supporting the packages on these rods. A coin operated mechanism is provided for moving the packages along the rod a distance equal to the thickness of the object being dispensed, so that the last package of the series will drop from the end of the rod.

Where the objects being dispensed are enclosed in a plastic bubble or enclosed between a pair of films attached to a folded card, the object dispensed is obviously much thicker than the supporting card. In order to insure the proper dispensing operation, tubular grommets are usually attached .to the cards, the grommets being equal in length to the thickness of the product. These grommets are threaded on the rods for suspending the product so that the upper portions of the cards are properly spaced. This insures the dispensing of the product each time the coin mechanism is operated, and also prevents double feeding of the product.

While this arrangement works very effectively, the grommets add very materially to the cost of the package. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing package of the type described which automatically holds the packages spaced at least the thickness of the product and which eliminates the necessity for the spacing grommets.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a package including a triangular rib extending along the top of the package which is of at least the thickness of the product, and which accordingly automatically holds the packages spaced when supported along the rods.

A further feature of the preferred-tormof construction of the invention lies in the fact that the package comprises a folded sheet of paper board, the folded sheet having registered windows therein, the windows being covered on their inner surfaces by a sheet of plastic material. This plastic material is capable of stretching when subjected to heat to enclose the package contents, the contents projecting through the windows. In order to produce a dispenser package, the upper edges of the folded sheet are folded to provide a pair of outwardly and upwardly diverging flanges connected by a top flange, the top flange being substantially equal in width to the thickness of the product. When the packages are supported 11134011 the supporting rods, the upper edges of the package are in contact and hold the packages in properly spaced relation.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and fully set torth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the package in its completed form.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the package in dispensing position.

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which the packages are formed.

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The blank from which the dispenser package is formed is best illustrated in FIGURE 3 of the drawings. As indicated in this figure, the blank includes a pair of similar panels 10 and 11 connected along a transverse fold line 12. The panels 10 and 11 are preferably rectangular in shape and each includes an aperture which is of proper size to accommodate the article A being packed. In the specific arrangement illustrated, the article A comprises a deck of playing cards enclosed in a rectangular tuckend carton. The apertures are indicated at 13 and 14, respectively, and are of slightly larger size than the article A to permit the stretching of the film about the object as will be described.

A flange 15 is hingedly connected to the panel 11 along a fold line 16 and a similar flange 17 is hingedly connected to panel 10 along a fold line 19. A top flange 20 is hingedly connected to the flange 17 along a fold line 21 and a retaining flange 22 is connected to the top flange 20 along a field line 23. All of the fold lines described are parallel. The retaining flange 22 and the flanges 15 and 17 are of substantially the same size and shape. Each of these three flanges include a central aperture, the apertures being indicated at 24, 25, and 26, respectively.

A rectangular film sheet 27 is adhered onto the blank to extend over the major portions of the panels 10 and 11 and to overlie the window apertures 13 and 14. The film 27 is formed :of plastic sheeting capable of stretching when subjected to heat. The film is also preferably capable of being heat sealed to itself.

In operation, the film is subjected to heat rays, and the article A is positioned on one side of the blank such as on the area of the film 27 which overlies the aperture 13. The blank is then folded along the fold line 12 to enclose the article A, the film stretching to accommodate the article. Usually, the blank is placed so that the article will project a substantially equal distance on each side of the folder. The panels 10 and 11 are secured in substantially face contact by any suitable means such as by heat sealing the sides of the film sheet 27 together. To complete the operation, the flanges 15 and 17 are folded into upwardly diverging relation as indicated in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, and the retaining flange 22 is folded inwardlyof the flange 15 to lie in face contact therewith. When folded in this way, the various apertures are aligned. The-top flange 20 is of a width which is substantially equal to,the thickness of the article A.

The dispensing machine from which the articles are dispensed includes a generally horizontal supporting rod 30 and this rod 30 is extended through the aligned apertures in the folders B. With this arrangement, the side edges of the top panel 20 of one package B contact the similar edges of adjoining packages B. As a result, the articles A are supported in substantially face contact. As a result, the packages are always properly spaced so that they can be dispensed one at a time by an apparatus which slides the packages along the rod 30 and off the end thereof.

In the past, it has been necessary to mount spacing grommets on the packages in order to hold the supporting portions of the package in properly spaced relation. If these grommets are omitted, the upper portions of the package do not remain properly spaced and there is a tendency to dispense two packages in place of one, or else, to tail to dispense an article when the apparatus is operated. These spacing grommets are relatively expensive and usually cost more to purchase and apply than all of the rest of the package. By increasing the width of the top of the package in the manner illustrated, the same result is accomplished in an extremely small increase in cost, and the folding of the flanges in the manner de- 3 scribed is much less costly from a labor standpoint than the cost of attaching the grommets to the packages.

In accordance with the patent statutes, we have described the principles of construction and operation of our improvement in dispensing packages, and while we have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, we desire to have it understood that changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What we claim is:

1. Dispensing packages in combination with a dispensing machine including a generally horizontal supporting rod, the packages being supported in parallel contacting relation on said rod, each package including a pair of con nected panels at least one of which includes an aperture, an article projecting through said aperture and held in place by a plastic film anchored between said panels, said panels being in parallel relation and substantially in face cont-act, flange means connected to at least one of said panels and including a top flange secured to extend on a plane normal to the planes of said panels and parallel to said rod, said top flange being of a width substantially equal to the thickness of said article, the edges of said top flanges of adjoining packages abutting when said articles of adjoining packages are in contacting relation, said flange means being apertured below said top flange and said rod extending through said apertures.

2. The structure of claim 1 and in which said flange means includes a pair of upwardly diverging flanges hinged to corresponding upper edges of said panels, said top flange being hinged to the upper edge of one of said diverging flanges, and a retaining flange hinged to said top flange and lying inwardly of the other of said diverging flanges.

3. Dispensing pack-ages in combination with a dispensing machine having a generally horizontal supporting rod, the packages being supported in parallel contacting relation on said rod, each package including a pair of similar panels hingedly connected and folded into substantially contiguous relation, said panels having aligned window apertures therein, a film of plastic secured to each panel spanning said window aperture therein, an article supported between said films and projecting through said windows, diverging flanges hinged to the upper edges of said panels, a top spacing flange hinged to the upper edge of one of said diverging flanges, a retaining flange hinged to said top spacing flange, and extending inwardly of the other of said diverging flanges and in face contact therewith, and said diverging flanges having aligned apertures therethrough'throu-gh which said rod extends, said top spacing flange being substantially equal in thickness to the thickness of said article, the edges of said top spacing flanges of adjoining packages abutting when said articles of adjoining packages are in contact.

4. Dispensing packages in combination with a dispensing machine having a generally horizontal supporting rod holding'a series of packages in parallel contacting relation, each package including display panel means, and an article secured to said display panel means, a flange structure secured to said display panel means, said flange structure including a pair of diverging panels and a top spacer panel connected between 'the upper edges of said diverging flanges on a plane normal to the plane of said display panel means and parallel to the axis of said rod, said diverging flanges having aligned apertures therethrough through which said rod extends, said top spacer panels being substantially equal in thickness to the thickness of said article, the edges of said top spacer panels of adjoining packages being in abutting relation when said articles on said display panel means are in engagement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,292,540 8/ 1942 Kohn. 2,595,043 4/ 1952 Zimmerman 20678 2,731,226 1/-1956 Ricciardi 206--79 X 2,866,544 12/1958 Klein 20680 3,083,826 4/ 196 3 Weinstein 20679 FOREIGN PATENTS 958,491 9/1949 France. 831,550 3/1960 Great Britain.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner. 

1. DISPENSING PACKAGES IN COMBINATION WITH A DISPENSING MACHINE INCLUDING A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL SUPPORTING ROD, THE PACKAGES BEING SUPPORTED IN PARALLEL CONTACTING RELATION ON SAID ROD, EACH PACKAGE INCLUDING A PAIR OF CONNECTED PANELS AT LEAST ONE OF WHICH INCLUDES AN APERTURE, AN ARTICLE PROJECTING THROUGH SAID APERTURE AND HELD IN PLACE BY A PLASTIC FILM ANCHORED BETWEEN SAID PANELS, SAID PANELS BEING IN PARALLEL RELATION AND SUBSTANTIALLY IN FACE CONTACT, FLANGE MEANS CONNECTED TO AT LEAST ONE OF SAID PANELS AND INCLUDING A TOP FLANGE SECURED TO EXTEND ON A PLANE NORMAL TO THE PLANES OF SAID PANELS AND PARALLEL TO SAID ROD, SAID TOP FLANGE BEING OF A WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE THICKNESS OF SAID ARTICLE, THE EDGES OF SAID TOP FLANGES OF ADJOINING PACKAGES ABUTTING WHEN SAID ARTICLES OF ADJOINING PACKAGES ARE IN CONTACTING RELATION, SAID FLANGE MEANS BEING APERTURED BELOW SAID TOP FLANGE AND SAID ROD EXTENDING THROUGH SAID APERTURES. 